Review of The Black Crowes: The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion

Maybe Scott Coates put it best when he said, "...how can we call ourselves rock fans without listening to an early Alice Cooper album...". We all surprisingly liked this album and took many things away from it. Our scores may not be really high but do not let that discourage you from listening to this classic that influenced some of the best prog rock, punk and metal band of our generations. This review and album is worth a listen.

Here is a few things you'll find out:
• Who Vincent Furnier is
• What song is it that Alice Cooper gets his head chopped off to?
• What Scott Gregory found on Darren Scott's Spotify

Review of The Black Crowes: The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion

It is unfortunate that The Black Crowes will unlikely ever reform. Personality and personnel issues were known to the band through the history of the group. Their second album, The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion, really allowed them to write and record songs they wanted to be remembered for. After the monster success of their debut Shake Your Money Maker their label, Rick Rubin's Def America, was very empowering by letting the band explore their sound instead of forcing them to stick to the catchy sound and covers featured on their debut. We loved this album, have a listen as to why and learn about this complex recording.

Here is a few things you'll find out:
• What Allman Brothers member was hugely responsible for a part of their new sound
• Who is Jeff Cease and how his replacement contributed
• What other albums was this up against for air play

As I (Darren) stumbled upon this classic reggae album in a time I needed some brightness, I took it as a sign. I was sure glad I did. This is a very fun and bright album from beginning to end. I have to say I was surprised that two of our members confessed they never really listened to reggae. We found out some funny facts and I think Scott Gregory revealed a bit too much. Ha ha. Listen along with us and we hope you took the time to listen to this fun album.

Find out not only factoids about the album, but also find out things like:
• The sample from a popular artist that Alain identified used Funky Kingston
• What two members identified themselves as not reggae fans but still enjoyed it
• Who makes the worst bong noise impression

Though we can easily quote member Scott Coates when he says "This is a masterpiece!", we will. This truly is a masterpiece. We rarely do a 5 Star rating but we did on this one.

However, this review is great. Find out not only factoids about the album, but also find out things like:
• How awesome or not the movie was
• Who Darren made out with to this album
• Why dancing impaired to Herb Alpert came up

There is no denying the power and fans of electronic music and the impact of industrial music. However, where did this all start? Alain had previously pick Kraftwerk who were the Grandfathers of EDM and synth music so it seems fitting he picks a natural influenced band in Depeche Mode. This 4th album from 1982 had some big hits but did it stand the test of time? Did we think this was their best album? Listen up and let us know what you thought. Enjoy our last pick for 2017.

Ok, first of all, this is a complex album. It is long and full of many experimental songs manufactured by DJ Shadow with basic equipment and lots and lots of samples. Though we didn't rate it high as a group, there are definitely those who will love this album. It has some great historical value and there is no denying the talent of DJ Shadow. Listen to our reviews and find out what the good, bad and sometimes ugly was about this album.

This month we got to review a great piece of work from the ever-so-cool Tom Petty. His Wildflowers album was a departure from his association with Jeff Lynne. Produced by 25 year old Rick Rubin, this has been critically known as his best work. Listen to our reviews and find about this album and the legend Tom Petty.

We had some fantastic conversation around this album as usual. A band like CCR deserves so much respect for what they were and what they did for rock music in the late 60s. The band is famous for breaking apart and John Fogarty holding a grudge against the other 3 members, including his brother Tom Fogarty, Stu Cook and Doug Clifford. Listen to what we thought of this album and learn about the history of CCR.

The year was 1995, the grunge movement was coming to an end and the strong feminist message from the Riot Grrrl movement was never going to get mainstream radio play. Enter Canadian mall-pop sensation Alanis Morissette with her 3rd album Jagged Little Pill. A huge kudos to Alanis for wanting to be something different than manufactured mall-pop. She left her Canadian home of Ottawa and moved to Los Angeles where she met and had and instant connection with producer Glen Ballard. They would collaborate on experimenting with her sound and they co-wrote most all of the albums tracks. This album was a monster and sold 33 million albums and counting. Have a listen to our review of this mega album and see if it stood the test of time and what we thought about it now. You'll enjoy this one.
The Sonic Collective

I have to admit that our little group is on a great streak of great albums to review and our member Scott Coates from Bangkok, Thailand did not disappoint. Public Enemy's It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back blew the doors and speakers open with it's extremely raw sound and messages. Have a listen to our review and find out just how influential this album was, how much sampling happened and what 4 white Canadian boys think of this fun ride. Yeah.... boy!!!!
Ps. I feel like we didn't give enough credit to the other members of PE. Though Chuck D is the leader all these greats contributed: Harry Allen, Chuck D, Fab 5 Freddy, Flavor Flav, Erica Johnson, Oris Josphe, Professor Griff